What's Done in the Dark
by Bre1738
Summary: Emmalyn Swan had gone through life not knowing or giving a damn about the people who had abandoned her and her twin sister inside of a safe haven box nearly eighteen years before. However, after giving birth to children of her own, and some persuasion the sister who has never asked her for anything, she agrees to start shaking the family tree. AU


**_Some are bound to die young. By dying young, a person stays young in people's memory. If he burned brightly before he dies, his brightness shines for all time._**

**_-Unknown Author _**

Synopsis:

AU: Emmalyn Swan had gone through life not knowing or giving a damn about the people who had abandoned her and her twin sister inside of a safe haven box with nothing but a parcel of papers nearly eighteen years before. However, after giving birth to children of her own, and some persuasion the sister who has never asked her for anything, she agrees to start shaking the family tree. Soon she finds herself entangled a bitter custody battle with the family of her deceased wife, falling for her secret sister in law, and many other family secrets.

**_Twelve months prior_**

_Two lines, three minutes. That was how quick her life changed. Waves of denial, panic and utter happiness crashed through her body in waves, with some emotions coming in at a higher tide. There were four rows of 5, all lined up on the marble counter of the bathroom sink, as she shook her head back and forth unable to comprehend anything. The water from the sink was still running, in an attempt to drown out the small pitiful whimpers that were escaping the mouth of the blonde teen who was curled up in the tub. _

_"What the fuck Zee" She mumbled _

**_Present Day _**

"What the fuck do you mean your married? And you never told me ?" Lily was in complete shock at the news her little sister had just bestowed on her. The younger blonde was doing a great job at pretending she couldn't hear her as she meticulously packed the diaper bag with enough changes of clothes and soothers.

"It all happened so fast Lil, she asked, and I accepted." Emma tried to explain to the older twin who acted more like a mother than a sister.

"And then she went and fucking died weeks later leaving you to clean up her fucking mess? Emma you were a minor! You would have needed a parents permission!" Lily exclaimed following her sister, while assisting her in grabbing the empty car seat she knew the girl was going to need to make the trip to the pediatrician's office. She had been there to help her sister with all of the other doctor appointments but today she had a very important audition she had to attend so Emma was left on her own.

"Lily that's enough! She didn't leave me to clean up ANY mess! My kids are not a mess ! Secondly watch your mouth around them, I already told you how I felt about you cursing around them! If you can't respect that then you can go! And lastly , we were emancipated 4 months before even married her. I didn't need the approval of the people who put us in a metal tin and pushed a button before abandoning us, and I certainly didn't need the approval of parents who died in a fucking crash years ago!" Emma snapped, already regretting telling her sister where the influx of cash was coming from, or how she managed to get the deed to the current apartment they were standing in.

"I didn't mean they were a mess Ems, you know I love Dori and Esmie like they're my own" Lily stated softly, watching Emma buckle her niece and nephew in their respected car seats. Even at four months old , the twins were barely 10 pounds if that, and still relied on the newborn inserts in their infant seats.

"I told you to stop calling him that, his name is Emerald. He's not some fish." Emma huffed

"It's not my fault you named the poor kid, Emerald Midori , what am I suppose to call him ? Emerald is a big mouthful for this tiny guy." Lily bent down to kiss her nephew on his head. Despite being so small, both kids had a headful of bright red curls.

"Zee liked the name, she always talked about switching her name to Midori after spending that semester abroad in Japan." Emma explained, grabbing her phone to see if her driver had made his way to the front of the building yet.

"Walk me down?" Emma asked the brunette who was carefully securing each car seat into the stroller to make transporting the babies easier.

"Sure , I gotta head down anyways! Elsa said we need to get to the audition by 11:30 because they aren't letting anyone in the door after 1. " Lily grabbed her water bottle and took the diaper bag from her sister who was trying to take the brakes off the stroller.

"Good luck and knock em dead !" Emma finally relented and gave her sister a slight smile.

* * *

Emma had checked in at the front desk approximately 15 minutes before the start of the twins' appointments, she preferred to be early to Dr. Hoppers because she knew from experience that if she was late, they would take the next available person in her spot and she would have to reschedule. Both of the twins were shielded from prying eyes by their car seat covers, and Emma hope this also meant they were being shielded from any potential germs.

"Esmeralda and Emerald Swan?" The nurse practitioner called out, and Emma got up and started pushing forward the bugaboo donkey 2 stroller, ignoring the judgey glances from the other mothers in the room. She had no doubt they were wondering why someone so young had the nerve to have not one but two babies. Her shoulders finally sagged behind the safety of the jungled themed room as she shrugged off her own coat before she began taking off the car seat covers. She took off the navy blue one first and peered down at her bright-eyed son before cooing at him.

"Hiya Mama's baby boy! How's my chunky ?" The baby smiled in response to his mother's voice. Both of her children looked like her late partner, but none more than Emerald. Even though he was small, he had the same round face and the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen on a baby. He also seemed to inherit her thin eyebrows and slightly pouty lips that always seemed to be puckered like he wanted to be kissed. Donned in a newborn sage green sleeper and green fuzzy slippers he looked absolutely adorable as his little arms flailed around. She quickly moved onto the olive green car seat over and saw her daughter curled up sleeping in the same matching outfit. She seemed to inherit Emma's chin and both babies had her slightly rounder nose. Esmeralda was just slightly smaller than her brother, but there was no doubt in her mother's mind she would catch up or even surpass him because she had the healthier appetite. The little girls hair also seemed to be more like her blonde mother's in terms that it laid flat across most of her head and came down in natural princess curls. However Esmie had green eyes instead of blue, and Emma had no clue where those came from.

"Alrighty now, what do we have going on today?" Dr Archie Hopper walked through the slightly opened room with a clipboard in his hand. He too had red hair , and thick oval glasses that he claimed he inherited from his own grandfather. He always managed to mention that the twins were his favorites because they all shared the same fiery colored hair.

"Um four month check up, and I think the nurse mentioned some shots." Emma said, while she quickly through her long blonde hair into what had become known as "the mom bun".

"Ahh yes , the dreaded shots. How about we do measurements first and check on those reflexes while we let the shots warm up a bit?" Archie smiled gently at the nervous first time mother. He glanced to the side and nodded his approval at the 6 shots that laid on the tray, separated into two groups, one for each baby.

"Okay, you want Emerald first?" Emma sighed before unbuckling the child. She was always extremely nervous when it came to vaccination time, due to the numerous things that she read. The pediatrician had been understanding and had often offered to space the shots out, to which she was grateful for.

"Yes, let's see how Mister Swan is coming along." Archie carefully took the small child from his mother, and walked him over to the changing pad scale. He expertly undid the sleep and set him down, watching the scale settle on a number.

"9lbs , 4 oz. " Archie turned to smile at Emma, they both seemed pleased with how he was coming along. Quickly he measured his height, head circumference and his thighs.

"It may not seem like it, but he's actually coming along very nicely. He progressing as he should be, he's just a bit smaller. The fact that he's not on any oxygen or feeding tubes anymore is a miracle in itself, for both of them." Archie assured her.

"They just seem a lot smaller than every other baby I've seen. I mean they both are just reaching 0-3 month old clothing." Emma ran her hand through the babies curls, watching his eyes track her movements while he cooed , seemingly discovering his voice more and more.

"They will be for a while. They were before significantly smaller than a full term singleton , but they are at a normal weight for their adjusted age and the fact that they are twins. How about we get this little guy his shots and back to being bundled up? I'll do two in his left thigh and one in the right." Dr Hopper received the affirmation from the mother, he made quick work of wiping off the thighs in question with an alcohol swab. Two minutes later , and a cherry red face baby wailing and he was done. Emma handed a still sleeping Esmerelda to her doctor before picking her son back up to feed him, knowing the doctor had seen plenty of breastfeeding mothers before.

"This little gal is 8lbs and 10 oz, so not far behind from her little brother."

The appointment went on without hitch, and after a screaming Esmerelda was fed and clothed, Emma felt accomplished enough to leave the appointment. Scheduling their next appointment for two months out was a breeze, and it wasn't until she was on her way down to the car that she noticed that her phone had nearly two dozen missed calls from her sister. Accepting Paolo's help in putting the the babies in the car, Emma quickly said a thanks to the driver before climbing in and returning her sisters call.

"EMMALYN WHY THE FUCK HAVEN'T YOU ANSWERED THE PHONE?!" Lily screeched in her ear.

"Woahhh Lily, calm down. I was at the kids appointment remember? It's a no phone zone." Emma immediately tried to soothe the girl who sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"It's all fucked up! It's all fucked to hell! I'm going to lose my dream before I even start!" Lily was bordering hysterics as she heaved through the phone.

"What's going on? What's wrong? Your audition isn't for another hour…" Emma trailed off glancing at the clock.

"Elsa got into a crash and had the nerve to break her leg! Like LITERALLY BROKE A LEG! Before the audition ! These aren't solo audition Ems, and I don't have a backup…"The brunette's sniffling was becoming too much for her sister to bear. Ever since becoming a mum , she hadn't been able to stand the sight of any one crying without wanting to fix everything for them.

"Ems I need you!" Lily begged.

"Lil…" Emma sighed , knowing what her sister was asking but she flat out refused to become apart of this.

"Emma please ! This is our only chance to meet her and see ! This is our only chance before she heads back to wherever the fuck she's been hiding !" Lily pressed on.

"This is absolutely crazy Lilith ! One, we don't even know if that lady is our mother ! Even if we did , she gave us up for a reason !" Emma hissed, looking down at her own set of twins. Experiencing teen pregnancy herself , she couldn't fathom putting her child in a box and hoping for the best. She still remembers when Lily approached her with this asinine idea.

**_Six Months Ago_**

_Emma had been sitting down as best as her pregnant belly would allow, sorting through small socks, mittens and sleepers that had been freshly washed and waiting on the arrival of their new owners. It had been four months since she had received the visit from Zelena Gold's lawyer. The fresh twenty-three year old had passed unexpectedly, after the plane she was riding in hit some turbulence and crashed right off of a remote island. Initially she had hoped there would be a recuse mission, and somehow the red-haired beauty had escaped, that all came crashing down when they discovered her body and that of the pilot. The duo had only been married for 3 weeks before it happened but they had dated since Emma had turned 17. Now the fresh eighteen year old was the expectant mother of twins , and a widower._

_Zelena's family had attempted to reach out via several lawyers and legal tactics , assuming that she was some bimbo mooching off their now deceased loved one, however Emma had adamantly refused to speak or see the people who made her wife feel like a freak of nature or that she had to flee to find love an acceptance. More and more family secretes seem to pour out now that her wife was no longer here. She found out more information than she cared to , knowing Zelena was tight-lipped about it because she valued her privacy. Her wife's history seemed even more complex than her own. Born and raised as a boy, until puberty when her breast started coming in and her father deemed it necessary to send her to specialist to be 'fixed'. Luckily by that time she was old enough to make her own medical decisions and decide what she wanted to identify as. Gideon Gold soon turned into Zelena Gold. From what her wife told her , her father took a while to come around to the change, but the love for his child won out. That is, until she started expressing interest in girls and refused to turn back into 'Gideon'. Sent away at fifteen years old, she stayed abroad in a school in England until she aged out at 21 and came back to the states. _

_She also learned that Zelena never knew her mother, the woman was not listed on her birth certificate, she was simply dropped off on Rupert Gold's door step with a not stating "Take care of our son". _

_The more Emma thought of it, the sicker she became that women would so freely abandon their children. Her thoughts were soon interrupted when her sister came barreling through the nursery door. _

_"EMS! YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE THIS !" Lily exclaimed bouncing up and down on her feet. _

_"Believe what?" Emma frowned, taking in the piece of paper her sister had clutched tightly in her hand. She rubbed her belly, feeling the butt of one of the twins as they moved around. _

_"Remember when I took that DNA test months ago, and had Auggie run the results for me to see if he could find any of our living relatives?" Lily rushed out, referring to her FBI boyfriend, who Emma was sure had broke the law in order to appease the girl in front of her._

_"Yeah.. what about it?" Emma's heart started to hammer in her chest, and despite how cool and collected she tried to seem, nothing would ever sate her curiosity until she received an answer. _

_"HE GOT A MATCH!" Lily handed the paper to her sister. Emma quickly snatched it out of her hand before skimming through the result. _

_"This is a match for a grandparent Lils." Emma replied in confusion._

_"YES! Ingrid Hayes! She's the owner of the company 23 and me! The lady is like a gazaliionare! "Lily squealed before throwing her body back into the soft crème colored rocking chair. She watched as her sister's eyebrows furrow, and she bit her pink lip until it nearly turned purple._

_"So that means it wasn't a financial issues, they just didn't want us." Emma concluded before balling the paper up. Lily sprang to her feet and caught the paper before Emma could successfully throw it in the trash._

_"You don't know that negative Nancy! Besides I googled it, she has 4 daughters and no sons. So that means one of her kids are our mum! This is where it gets interesting –" Lily stopped until she had Emma's full attention again. _

_"This is where what gets interesting? You know, I don't even know why you care. You were the one who told me years ago, we had a mum and a dad. And they fucking died." Emma sneered, getting angry at her sister for bringing all of these memories back to the surface._

_"Well…. All of her kids are young, and I mean really young. The oldest would have been our age when she had us. The youngest would have only been 15." Lily ignored the younger girl's outburst. _

_"The lady had 4 kids in 3 years? She must have been busy." Emma murmured, putting several pairs of leggings into their designated bins. She hadn't gotten the babies anything expensive, except for their car seats and strollers, everything else had either been gifted or thrift-ed. With some cloud island outfits coming from Target. The twins had a plethora of discounted clothing from Kid to Kid and granimals of all sizes. _

_"Yeah a set of twins. Looks like it really does run in the family." Lily smirked. _

_"Well if we ever meet the bastards, remind me to send my thanks for being stuck with you all my life. " Emma mused, bursting out laughing when her sister stuck out her tongue. _

**_End of Flashback_**

"Ems … you promised me."

Emma had never heard the girl sound so defeated before. Not when their parents had died when they were eleven, not when they were beaten, starved and abused in various foster homes. And certainly not when she found out her sister who she had tried so hard to protect had fallen pregnant and was now left in a disarray and alone. Lily was always her rock and her protector , and she never asked for anything in return. She always made sure Emma ate first and enough, she took countless beatings for her sister and she even stopped her dream of going to the West Coast to help her sister raise her kids. The guilt was over whelming and Emma found herself in a conundrum.

"Okay, I'll do the one audition. If we don't make it, that's it Lily." Emma agreed, not bothering to wait for a response before she hung up the phone and told the driver to turn around and head towards the Auditorium.


End file.
